Touch of Time
by Ci Maebee
Summary: Sequel to I Will Love You After - description coming soon!


**Touch of Time**

"To the outside world we all grow old. But not to brothers and sisters. We know each other as we always were. We know each other's hearts. We share private family jokes. We remember family feuds and secrets, family griefs and joys. We live outside the touch of time."  
_-Clara Ortega_

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Chapter One – _My Brother's Keeper_

The air was always so tense now. Everyone knew Emiko was the only one who had a chance of finding Sasuke, no matter how small that chance was, but even Emiko had to admit there was nothing she could do about it right now. All anyone could do was sit around and wait for Emiko to recover. Unfortunately, Naruto and Emiko don't do too well with sitting around and waiting.

"Guys, I'm fine, really!" Emiko shouted, slapping away Kimi's hand as she tried to dab Emiko's forward with a cold washcloth.

"Yeah! She looks good to me! Come on! Let's go find Sasuke!" Nartuo chimed in, just as eagerly as Emiko.

Jun turned and glared at Nartuo disapprovingly. "Stop encouraging her."

"Jun-sensei, you know as well as I do that the longer we wait, the harder it'll be to find Sasuke. If we don't start looking now, he'll-"

"If we _do _start looking now, you'll end up killing yourself. You're right, Emiko. I do know it gets harder the longer we wait, but more importantly, I know how much you care about Sasuke and how stubborn you are. You're good at hiding exhaustion and it's gotten you into trouble on more than one occasion. I'm not putting you at risk again. You'll end up killing yourself if it meant you would have a better chance of finding him."

"You're right, I would. If that's what it took to find Sasuke, I'd do it. I put everything I had into finding Itachi and I'd do the same for Sasuke."

"I know you would. We all want to find Sasuke. I'm sure Itachi would do anything for Sasuke, too, but Emiko if you keep trying before you're rested, you will end up killing yourself and then we'd be left with no way to ever find Sasuke. Everyone here knows you're our only chance at finding him."

"But-!" Naruto began to protested, but, as usual, he didn't get very far.

"Naruto, he's right. Right now, the first step to finding Sasuke is letting Emiko recover," Kakashi said, not taking his eyes off his book.

Emiko couldn't help but notice that Itachi was silent this entire conversation. He was still sitting beside her bed, holding her hand and stroking it softly, but his head was down and his eyes glazed over. It seemed like he wasn't paying attention in the least and probably didn't even realize there's was a discussion going on around him.

Emiko wasn't sure what to make of it. She assumed he was probably lost in his own thoughts, but she wasn't sure if that a good thing or a bad thing. When they were kids, Itachi reacted this way every time something bothered him. He wasn't open by any means. The problem was, sometimes he reacted well when Emiko tried to help him, other times, no so much. Emiko could never tell which was which.

With a shaky hand, Emiko reached out to Itachi and lifted his chin lightly so he was looking at her. Itachi was very calm looking, but Emiko could see the fear and the pain hidden in his eyes. She knew she was probably the only one who could spot things like that, the only one who knew Itachi well enough to see what he always tried so hard to hide. He was probably even better at hiding it now, having done it for so many years, but he would never be able to hide from Emiko completely. She was connected to him in a way she couldn't explain even if she wanted to.

Itachi stared back at her and the two of them became lost in an unspoken conversation. This complete understanding that required no words. Emiko knew how much this was all getting to Itachi. His brother put himself in harms way, because of what Itachi had done. Emiko hadn't asked Itachi, yet, what happened between him and Sasuke, but she hadn't had the chance. She asked him so many questions, made him relive so much pain, she hadn't wanted to continue before. Her curiosity was killing her. Curiosity about Itachi and Sasuke, Akatsuki, and everything that Itachi went through after he left.

Emiko was debating whether or not to ask a question about one of these subjects, when they were interrupted by Fumio clearing his throat. Both Itachi and Emiko had gotten lost in each other's eyes and forgotten about the other people in the room. Though, as Emiko looked around now, she noticed everyone but Fumio had left.

This didn't surprise Emiko. Fumio had refused to leave Emiko and Itachi alone for even a moment, despite how much Kimi would get on his case for it.

Speak of the devil. Kimi peeked her head around the corner, glaring at Fumio. She walked right up to him, grabbed him by the ear, and dragged him out of the room without a word. Emiko could still hear Fumio's angry protests even as they both disappeared out of the room.

Emiko was tempted to laugh at this, but as she looked back at Itachi, she decided against it. He was still staring at her and his expression hadn't changed.

"I'll find him … I promise," Emiko said, placing her hand on Itachi's cheek.

"It's not finding him that I'm worried about …" Itachi replied quietly.

"You're worried about after we find him … What happened that night, with Sasuke?"

Emiko's voice was shaky as she asked. She knew how much pain the whole thing had caused Itachi, but she had to know. She's the one who will find Sasuke, but she needed to know how to handle it once she did. She couldn't blame Itachi for being worried. Sasuke hated Itachi more than anything, but Itachi made a promise that he'd never leave Emiko's side again. Emiko knew he intended to keep that promise. Emiko became even more nervous when Itachi didn't answer.

"I … I know he came home," Emiko started, "and found … and he told me he saw you, talked with you … but he wouldn't tell me what was said."

"He asked why."

"What did you tell him?"

"I … I told him I did it to test my strength."

Emiko was shocked, to say the least. She never guessed Itachi would've told Sasuke something like that. She already figured he would've lied to Sasuke, to protect him, but to say something like that … no wonder Sasuke hated him so much.

"Why?"

"The Uchiha name was ruined. We used to be the most powerful clan alive. Now, all the Uchiha's are is a bunch of extinct traitors. There's no honor left in our name, Emi. I wanted Sasuke to hate me, to despise me with everything he had. I wanted him to have a reason to grow and become the great ninja I knew he was meant to be. His hatred for me would be all the motivation he would need. And then he could get his revenge. He would be a hero to Konoha and redeemer of the Uchiha name."

"You … you wanted him to kill you? That was your brilliant plan? To die?"

Emiko, once again, couldn't stop tears forming in her eyes. The thought of Itachi … lifeless … she couldn't bare to think of it.

"I killed my family, Emi. My clan, my parents, everyone. I lost my little brother and the love of my life. I was known as a murder to my village. There was nothing left for me, but Sasuke's life was just beginning and I was going to make sure he became everything he could be."

Emiko smiled lightly, wiping her tears. Even in his pain, and the living hell he had to go through, all he could do was think of Sasuke's best interest. He made his brother hate him, not only to protect him, but to give him a chance at the greatest life possible. The chance to be a hero. Emiko loves Sasuke as if he truly was her little brother, but she knew her love for him could never come close to Itachi's.

Itachi look Emiko in the eyes and Emiko's smile left. His eyes were filled with so much pain. She knew he was being tortured inside and there was nothing she could do about it.

"Emi … I made a promise to you. I promised I would never leave you again … but I shouldn't have. Because … I … I don't know if I can keep that promise, Emiko-chan. Sasuke will never forgive, never believe the truth. I made sure of that. And … if he tries to take his revenge … I will let him."

Emiko's eyes were overflowing with tears. Her heart ached, not only from the thought of Itachi being killed, but for the pain Itachi was in. She knew the conflict he was facing. The two people he loved the most, and he felt as though he will have to choose between them. If he ever did, Emiko knew he would choose Sasuke. It would kill him, but he would choose Sasuke every time. Oddly enough, that didn't bother Emiko in the least. However, that didn't mean she wasn't going to do everything she could to make sure it never came to that.

"I know, Itachi-kun … I know. I won't give up that easily, though. I will fight with everything I have to try and make Sasuke see."

"I know you will. That's what I'm afraid of. He already hates me, Emi … don't make him hate you, too."

"I can't promise that, Itachi. You know I can't."

And he did know. No matter how much he wished otherwise, he knew that Emiko would fight until the bitter end to try and bring the two brothers back together, even to the point of Sasuke's hatred. Emiko smashed her lips against Itachi's with such passion that she could tell it caught Itachi off-guard. All Emiko knew was that there was a chance she wouldn't have much time with Itachi, and she wasn't about to take one second with him for granted anymore.

Itachi returned the kiss with just as much passion. Emiko let go of all the embarrassment she has felt being with Itachi like this. The small light kisses he's given her, the time she saw him shirtless … she was so embarrassed. She let that go this time.

At least, she did … until everyone came back into the room. Emiko's face felt like it was on fire. It didn't help when Itachi chuckled lightly. Not loud enough for everyone else to hear, but enough for Emiko to catch it. Though she wished she hadn't.

"This is why I don't leave them alone!"

"Oh Fumio, come on! They were kissing, so what? We do plenty of that!"

"Yeah, well we're married!"

"We were doing it before we were married, you big baby!"

"No mentioning of babies in this house!" Fumio turned towards Itachi, glaring daggers at him with a shaking finger shoved in his face. "You got that, boy? No babies! I swear to god, if you get my baby girl pregnant with another one of you Uchihas, I will murder you in your sleep, you horn-"

"FUMIO!" Kimi shouted, her eyes wide. "They were kissing, not making babies, for crying out loud!"

Emiko had never been more embarrassed in her entire life. Not only had they all caught her kissing Itachi, but now Fumio was talking about _making babies_. With Jun, Kakashi, Sakura, and Naruto all standing right there. Could this get any worse?

"She's right Fumio. They weren't even close to being positioned correctly for something like that."

Apparently it could.

"Hatake-san, you're not helping," Kimi said, hands on her hips. "I think we should just go and give them some privacy."

"The hell we should. They've had plenty of privacy! There will be no more privacy for them in this house!"

"Oh, Fumio, stop being so over-dramatic." Kimi rolled her eyes.

"He right," Itachi said, standing up. Emiko was about to protest, but Itachi didn't give her the chance. "You need your rest, Emi. I'll just be in the other room if you need me."

"Promise?" Emiko asked, smiling lightly.

"Promise."

Nothing meant more to Emiko than the promises Itachi makes, even if he can't keep all of them.


End file.
